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South China Sea, 10 October 2012
Home. It was all she could think about—all she heard in her dreams. And now, it was within reach.
Caitlyn sprinted through the dense shrubbery and over jagged rocks, her breath ragged from the relentless terrain. Reaching the edge of a cliff, she pulled a piece of flint from her belt, striking it to ignite the tip of an arrow. She nocked it, drawing her bowstring taut, her sharp eyes locking onto the wooden beacon she had prepared on the beach below—soaked in gasoline for a moment like this.
Her aim was always true, whether with bow or rifle. She loosed the arrow, watching as it soared through the air before striking its mark. In an instant, flames roared to life, casting an eerie glow across the shoreline.
A few kilometers from the island, aboard a Chinese fishing vessel, a lone fisherman spotted the sudden burst of fire. His eyes widened, and he hurriedly alerted the rest of the crew. Shouts filled the deck as the fishermen scrambled to change course, steering toward the island with urgency.
As they disembarked onto the shore, an unsettling sight greeted them. An orange and black mask was skewered onto a stake, standing ominously against the firelit backdrop. Then, from the shadows, a figure emerged—stumbling forward before dropping to her knees.
She threw back her indigo hood, revealing long, disheveled dark blue hair and cerulean eyes burdened by horrors untold. The open sleeves of her tattered, weathered clothing exposed scars too numerous to count.
Caitlyn Kiramman.
Recognition flickered in the fishermen’s eyes. Moving quickly, they draped a warm blanket over her shoulders, offering quiet reassurance as they helped her aboard their vessel. But before they departed, they carefully hauled a mysterious wooden crate onto the boat, its surface etched with Mandarin characters.
Now at sea, Caitlyn sat in silence, staring into the endless void of the ocean. A cup of warm tea rested in her hands, its heat barely reaching the numbness inside her. As the boat drifted away from the island, she let the weight of her past and future settle upon her.
Her mission. Her purpose. Everything she had done. Everything she would do.
All for her home.
All for her mother.
To right the wrongs of her family.
To save her city.
6th Precinct, Zaun – Five Days Later
“Pow Pow, for the hundredth time—no. I’m not letting you drag me to some seedy nightclub,” Vi said, not looking up from the reports she was filling out. “I have an actual job. I don’t have time for that anymore.”
“Sis, you swore an oath to serve and protect, not to become a celibate, anti-social workaholic,” Powder shot back, picking up a Rubik’s cube from Vi’s desk. She absently twisted it, her fingers working on instinct as she continued.
“I’m not anti-social,” Vi retorted, sounding genuinely offended. “I spend all my free time with you guys, and I still do weekly pizza and movie nights with Mel, Jayce, and Viktor.”
“We’re your family. That doesn’t count,” Powder said flatly. “And Mel, Jayce, and Viktor are practically family too. We’ve spent the last five Christmases together—if that’s not family, I don’t know what is.”
Vi sighed, preparing a comeback when the midday news suddenly blared over the precinct’s television.
“Breaking news—Caitlyn Kiramman is alive. The Piltover resident was found in the South China Sea five days ago, five years after she was presumed dead following an accident at sea that claimed the Kiramman’s Gambit.”
Vi froze.
“Kiramman was a regular tabloid presence in Piltover’s nightclub scene before her disappearance.”
“She was the daughter of Cassandra Kiramman, who was also on board but has now been officially confirmed as deceased.”
“Among the dead were twenty crew members and one Maddie Nolen—a pupil of Caitlyn Kiramman, and her then-girlfriend, Violet Lanes—”
Vi moved before she could even think. She snatched the remote and shut off the TV in an instant.
For a brief moment, the entire precinct turned to look at her. She met their gazes with a blank expression before turning back to her desk, gripping her pen like a lifeline as she stared at the unfinished reports in front of her.
Powder approached cautiously, placing a hand on Vi’s shoulder. “Hey… you good?”
Vi turned, her expression a mix of anguish and forced indifference, masking the storm inside. She flashed a strained smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll get back to you on the clubbing—see if my schedule clears up.”
Powder didn’t push. She just nodded and walked away, knowing her sister needed space.
Piltover General – One Week Later
“Twenty percent of her body is covered in scar tissue,” the doctor stated, flipping through his notes. “Second-degree burns on her back and arms. Almost a dozen unhealed fractures.”
Tobias Kiramman barely heard him. He stood by the observation window, staring at his daughter through the glass. Caitlyn sat in her hospital bed, silent, gazing out over the city beyond the window.
“Has she said anything about her experiences?” Tobias asked, his voice quieter than intended. “About what happened on the island? Anything at all?”
The doctor hesitated. “You need to prepare yourself, Tobias. The Caitlyn you lost five years ago may not be the one they found.”
Tobias exhaled slowly, steadying himself, then stepped forward and pushed open the door.
“Caitlyn?” His voice wavered, his mouth trembling between a smile and the threat of tears.
She turned, her cerulean eyes meeting his. For a moment, her expression was unreadable—then, her features softened. A small, fragile smile appeared, and her voice, barely above a whisper, broke the silence.
“Dad.”
They crashed into each other, Tobias clutching her as if afraid she would vanish again.
“My brave girl,” he murmured, holding her close.
Yet despite the warmth of his embrace, Caitlyn felt distant—like an observer, detached from the moment. She wasn’t sure if she still belonged here, in her father’s arms, in this city, in this life.
Inside her chest, emotions wrestled for control. She wasn’t the same Caitlyn Kiramman who had left five years ago.
But for a fleeting second, she let herself pretend.
Let herself forget the mission.
Forget the purpose.
Forget the list .
Just for a moment, it was all a world away.
Then the moment passed.
And she remembered.
She remembered why she had come back.
What she had to do.
And who she had to go after.
The Kiramman Manor, Late Afternoon
The limousine pulled into the foyer of the manor—her family's ancestral home. Her home. Caitlyn wracked her brain, trying to remember how to be normal again, or at least how to act normal.
Snapping out of her trance, she strode toward the trunk of the limousine, reaching for the wooden chest adorned with Mandarin markings. The family chauffeur moved to grab it first, but she shot him a reassuring smile before lifting it herself. He hesitated, surprised by how effortlessly she hefted the trunk. Caitlyn had always been athletic, but not like this. Her once-lean arms were now well-built and muscular. She chuckled to herself, reminiscing about old times—about Vi. Maybe now, she could finally beat her in one of their lazy morning wrestling matches.
The warm memories faded the moment she stepped inside the manor. The dark wood-paneled walls, the portraits of past Kirammans, the antique hunting rifles mounted on display—it was all as she remembered. She was home. Or at least, in her home. But before she could dwell on it any longer, a familiar voice shattered her thoughts.
“Sprout!”
Jayce’s excited voice boomed from the staircase as he rushed down, wrapping Caitlyn in a tight embrace.
“My god, I can’t believe you’re here!” he said, his grip almost vice-like. Then, as he pulled back slightly, he took in her appearance. “And you got… buff.”
Caitlyn rolled her eyes. “Shut up.”
Jayce squeezed her arm again, grinning. "Damn."
His familiar warmth brought a strange comfort to her otherwise fractured soul. But before she could get too lost in it, another voice interjected.
"Your room is just as you left it," Tobias said, stepping forward. "We hadn’t the heart to change anything."
“We’re so glad to have you back,” another voice chimed in.
Caitlyn turned to see Jimena—Jayce’s mother. What was she doing here? Then, she noticed the way she gravitated toward Tobias. Her stomach twisted. She knew what that meant. But she didn’t have the gall to say it out loud.
Overwhelmed yet happy, Caitlyn made her way upstairs to her room. She set the trunk down and flipped it open. Inside lay everything she needed to fix her city: the list, the hood, the bow—the tools she had come to rely on, almost an extension of herself by now.
It was time.
Just then, the sound of footsteps interrupted her thoughts.
“What did I tell you? Boats suck.”
That smooth, posh voice washed over her like a memory.
Caitlyn turned, breaking into a grin. “Mel!”
The two women embraced, nuzzling into each other’s shoulders.
“God, it’s been so long. I can’t believe you’re actually here.”
Caitlyn held onto Mel’s arms, her expression still a mix of disbelief and joy. “I still can’t believe I’m actually here.”
Mel smirked, her mind already at work. “Of course you can’t. You’ve been stuck on some godforsaken island for five years. You need a proper welcome-home party. And I know just how to get you settled.”
Caitlyn’s smirk mirrored hers. “I hope you’re thinking what I’m thinking.”
“It’s like you never left,” Mel said, beaming. “We’ll plan tomorrow. Tonight, you need real food.”
“Well, I wasn’t exactly spoiled for choice on the island, so… I won’t say no.” Caitlyn chuckled, following her downstairs.
That Evening
“So, what else did you miss?” Jayce mused, listing things off dramatically. “Oh! We have a Black president now, that sequel to that book about the two astronauts finally came out, and—”
His rambling was cut short as Rosa, the maid, tripped while carrying a bowl of fruit. Caitlyn moved instantly, catching her before she fell. Rosa mumbled something in Russian, and Caitlyn responded without hesitation—in perfect Russian.
The room went still.
Jimena was the first to break the silence. “I didn’t know you took Russian in college.”
Caitlyn looked at her, her expression unreadable. Then, she fired back, voice calm but words razor-sharp:
“I didn’t know you wanted to sleep with my father.”
The air in the room tightened. They had all planned to tell her when the time was right. But the cat was out of the bag—if there had ever been a bag to begin with.
Tobias sighed, his tone firm yet empathetic. “Jimena and I are married, Caitlyn. It was a hard five years for us, too.”
Caitlyn’s false smile faded. “May I be excused?” she asked, her voice strained.
Tobias nodded. “Of course.”
As she turned to leave, Jayce piped up, trying to lighten the mood. “Don’t forget about tomorrow! We’ll hit the town and scratch every itch you’ve had since coming back from the dead.”
Caitlyn didn’t respond.
She had always seen her parents as inseparable. But now, she had to face the truth. Her father had been stranded on an island, too—not a physical one, but an island nonetheless. His entire family, gone in one storm.
Maybe she should have been more understanding.
She shut the door to her room, but sleep didn’t come easily.
South China Sea – Five Years Ago
Cassandra Kiramman waited as the captain opened the door to her cabin. “It’s a Category 2. We should probably turn back,” he informed her.
Cassandra sighed, disappointed that they wouldn’t be making it to Hong Kong. “Very well. Turn us around,” she relented.
Just then, Caitlyn strode down the hallway, her brows furrowed in confusion. “What’s going on?” she asked, clearly irritated at being disturbed from her activities with Maddie due to the storm.
“The weather’s getting worse, so we’re heading back,” Cassandra explained. “I’ll have to reschedule my meetings—”
Before she could finish, a familiar orange bob appeared from around the corner of the T-shaped hallway.
“Hey, Caity, where’s the bottle opener?” Maddie asked, clad in nothing but her undergarments and a loosely tied robe. As soon as she noticed Cassandra standing there, she scrambled to cover herself, clearly embarrassed.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” Caitlyn replied quickly, shooing Maddie back to their room before she could make things worse.
Cassandra sighed, her tone laced with both disappointment and reluctant acceptance. “That isn’t going to end well, darling.”
“I know,” Caitlyn admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. “It’s just... Vi’s been so busy lately. Sometimes I just appreciate a little warmth when I’m stuck in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.” There was a pinch of guilt in her words, though not enough to stop her.
Cassandra’s expression remained unreadable. “You’re an adult, Caitlyn. You know exactly what happens if she finds out—and she will. You’ll have to bear the consequences.”
Before Caitlyn could respond, Cassandra’s phone buzzed with an incoming call.
“We’ll talk about this when we get back to Piltover,” she said, walking back to her cabin.
Caitlyn exhaled sharply and made her way back to her own room, where Maddie lay sprawled across the bed, her robe barely covering her body. The sight was more than enough to entice Caitlyn forward, pouncing onto Maddie and peppering her with kisses.
“Vi’s going to kill me,” Maddie murmured breathlessly as Caitlyn trailed her lips down her neck.
“She won’t find out,” Caitlyn reassured, though her words left a bitter taste in her mouth.
A pit formed in her stomach. She had promised Vi she would always stay by her side—long before they had even started dating, back when they were just best friends. Hell, Maddie had made that same promise too. The three of them had been inseparable since middle school, countless study sessions, lazy afternoons spent together—until Caitlyn had finally mustered the courage to ask Vi out.
And now?
Now she was throwing Vi’s trust away.
For what? A quick thrill? Because she wanted more? Because even the most amazing girl she had ever met somehow wasn’t enough for her?
She almost scoffed at herself—
Then the boat rocked. Once. Then again.
Before either of them could react—
BOOM.
A distant explosion.
Water flooded into the cabin.
The boat lurched, overturning.
Maddie screamed as she lost her footing, slipping through a gaping hole in the hull and vanishing into the waves.
Caitlyn barely had time to process what was happening before the current swallowed her whole too.
Kiramman Manor – Midnight
Caitlyn awoke with a start, her breath ragged, her heart hammering in her chest.
A hand was on her shoulder.
Instinct took over.
In one swift motion, she grabbed the wrist, twisted it, and sent the intruder crashing to the floor before pinning them with a vice-like grip around their throat.
Then—she saw his face.
Her father.
Her stomach dropped.
She recoiled, releasing him immediately, crawling backward into the corner of the room like a frightened animal.
“Dad, I’m sorry,” she gasped, her voice hoarse. “I—I didn’t mean to—”
Tobias coughed, rubbing his throat as Jimena rushed to his side. Despite his obvious pain, he didn’t lash out or retreat. Instead, he approached Caitlyn slowly, carefully, before kneeling in front of her.
“It’s alright, Caity,” he murmured, his voice still strained. “You’re home. You’re safe.”
Caitlyn stared at him, her mind still racing, but she let him take her trembling hands in his.
Then—finally—she allowed herself to be pulled into his embrace.
For the first time in five years, she felt something almost like comfort.